AV Receiver good enough for high end audio?

Let's put this to rest. Anyone truly interested in how the Ultimate performs merely has to enter the "Ultimate Receiver" into the forum search engine, to read one accolade upon another from those that have owned them.

I've nothing to gain from promoting the performance of any product. Either something works well or it doesn't.

There's a folly and risk of using someone else's statistics, rather than your own experience with a product on these forums. To suggest Sunfire amps aren't capable of driving ML's makes you appear as a complete fool, for they've a reputation to the contrary. It's common knowledge in fact, perhaps except to HiFihvn, that Sunfire drives ML's into oblivion, and that was one of the products largest seller point at any dealer carrying the two products. They were always featured together at any hi end store. But I understand Hifihvn, you didn't read that fact among your stat sheets.

In this instance your stats have failed you. Citing irrelevant reviews to somehow bolster a false belief system as it pertains to a particular product doesn't change reality. Most Sunfire products work fabulously. From your own admission you've no personal experience with the product being mentioned. Therefore you've no real opinion to share regarding Sunfire product other than a bias against it. That much is clear to anyone.

In this instance your stats have failed you. Citing irrelevant reviews to somehow bolster a false belief system as it pertains to a particular product doesn't change reality. Most Sunfire products work fabulously. From your own admission you've no personal experience with the product being mentioned. Therefore you've no real opinion to share regarding Sunfire product other than a bias against it. That much is clear to anyone.

Did I state that I have no knowledge of Sunfire products? You never provided a model number for the seven ML speakers you state from your personal experience,driven with the receiver your speaking of here.I never said a Sunfire amp would have trouble driving them.I know the amp does.That is another advantage separates have.You stated the Ultimate II receiver,that I'm referring to.Do you know more about this receiver,than Bob Carver himself does?Do people on the net that use seven of them,against Bob Carver recommendations? Are one of these receivers now your source,instead of your prior amps?Your main system?Your the one recommending to others to do this.

I also think if your going to try this,(an A/V system for all), why not go with separates?If you have a separate processor,and amps,at least the amps will have a lot more years of usage ahead of them,at least from the view of not being outdated so soon. This way,you could replace the processor,and keep the still serviceable amps.

For the record, pertaining to all PHD's or credentials of any kind...THIS KIND OF DOCUMENTATION CAN BE BOUGHT OVER THE WEEKEND!!! (Canpick up/purchase anything over the internet these days...it's amazing, really. Has happened at few universities in the past. Just Google it). I'm not impressed.
Hey, I'm pretty certain that all those double PHD's and world renouned physicists that Albert Einstein associated with from his era thought they knew something too! Reality was Einstein figured it out all for them, and proved that the rest of them knew very little of real importance! -Their dregrees meant very little ("education is what begins when you've forgotten everything you've learned in school" - A.E) ...that's all I'm trying to say.
I, for one, like Hifihvn's position that the terminology SUPER RECEIVER is an oxymoron! Considering that any AV receiver is obsolete the following year, it's foolish to invest in such an endevor. Separates is only logical path. That and the fact that receivers will never replace hi-end gear, regardless of what PHD posers and turn of the century retiree's have to say on the matter.
Oh, and Dbphd? For the record, I didn't lose my hearing in the Second World War. So I got that goin for me...which is nice.

Queefee, I don't know where some of the points in your post come from, e.g. purchased degrees/credentials, hearing loss in the Second World War. I just don't get the relevance of your first or third paragraphs, nor the last clause of the final sentence of your second paragraph.

I agree there is a major advantage of a separate processor and amp, because processor technology does change frequently whereas amp technology tends to be very stable. I also think there are circuit design issues that favor the simplicity of an amp over the complexities of a receiver. As an undergraduate -- before I purchased my degrees and post-doc, I built a number of Dynakit amps but only one preamp; that one preamp was enough.

db